Alcatel-Lucent Signs $460 Million with China Mobile and China Unicom

China Mobile, the world's largest mobile operator, awarded a master contract valued at US$340 million to Alcatel-Lucent for mobile communications solutions and services. Under the deal, Alcatel-Lucent will provide China Mobile with GSM/GPRS/EDGE radio and core network equipment, customized solutions and related services that will support China Mobile's GSM/GPRS/EDGE network expansion programs in 2007. This will enable China Mobile to expand into several new provincial markets in addition to growing its existing base. The contract was signed by Alcatel Shanghai Bell.



Separately, China Unicom awarded a contract valued at US$120 million to Alcatel-Lucent for a range of network projects in 2007. The projects include a CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev. A high-speed data network upgrade to be implemented in China Unicom's network in Macau, as well as a further expansion in the CDMA core network, radio solutions, and applications that will support China Unicom's broader mobile network expansion. The agreement also provides for GSM/GPRS/EDGE core and radio network solutions and optical network components in support of China Unicom's GSM service offerings.

http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

• In November 2006, China Mobile, the world's largest mobile operator, selected Alcatel for a full-scale, nationwide IP network deployment project. Financial terms were not disclosed. The contract was won through Alcatel Shanghai Bell. The project entails the deployment of the Alcatel 7750 Service Router and Alcatel 5620 Service Aware Manager in 13 densely-populated provinces and municipalities of China including: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Shanxi, Anhui, Gansu, Ningxia, Liaoning, Guizhou, Guangxi, Hunan, Jilin and Hainan.

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OIF Launches SFI-X Project for SERDES-Framer Interfaces to 100 Gbps

The Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) has launched a SERDES Framer Interface SFI-X project that will define a scalable interface from an optical module to a framer device for line rates from 40 Gbps to 100 Gbps and beyond. The SFI-X project forms an important contribution to the requirements for transport of high-speed data via the OIF's Common Electrical Interface (CEI). The current, ongoing CEI-25 project establishes electrical signaling rates for high-speed backplanes.



The next generation SFI-X will support the aggregation and de-skewing of 4-16 data lanes at CEI (6 - 11G) or future CEI-25 (20 - 25G) signal rates. The SFI-X project is an extension of the prevalent OIF SFI-4 specification for 10 Gbps interfaces. SFI-X is targeted to support the 100G work being addressed by standards bodies like IEEE 802.3 HSSG and ITU-T, and forums like ATIS and the Ethernet Alliance.



"The OIF's role is to perform a gap analysis of the missing elements required to bring 100G technology to market," said Steve Joiner of Finisar and OIF Vice President of Marketing. "The OIF member companies are beginning to identify the gaps and to look for ways to foster the rapid, cost-effective development of new technologies for optical internetworking."http://www.oiforum.com/

• In December 2006, the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) finalized the Scalable System Packet Interface (SPI-S) implementation agreement. SPI-S is a channelized, streaming-packet interface that scales from 6 Gbps to hundreds of Gbps for chip-to-chip and backplane applications. It is a successor to the widely deployed OIF SPI 4.2 interface, and leverages the OIF's Common Electrical Interface (CEI) to take advantage of high rate serial physical interconnects.
  
  
  
  SPI-S is specified to run over CEI, which is defined at 6 and 11 Gbps for both short reach and long reach applications. SPI-S can also be used with other physical interconnects including OIF's SxI-5. The OIF also recently announced the initiation of a CEI-25 project to extend the CEI serial interface into the 25 Gbps range. The scalable nature of SPI-S will allow it to take advantage of CEI-25 when the next generation interconnect is fully defined.



• At this Spring's OFC/NFOEC conference in Anaheim, California, Alcatel-Lucent discussed the potential for upgrading existing 40 Gbps transparent long-haul transport networks to 100 Gbps Ethernet. Specifically, researchers at Bell Labs transmitted ten closely spaced 100 Gbps WDM data channels over a 1,200 kilometer optical transmission distance in a systems experiment that included six optical add/drop nodes like those used in today's transparent mesh networks. Using this design, the researchers achieved an unprecedented spectral efficiency of 1 bit per second per Hertz (b/s/Hz) over the 1200 Km distance using only a single polarization of light.



• In December 2006, researchers at Siemens, working in cooperation with Micram, the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications (Heinrich-Hertz-Institut) and Eindhoven Technical University, achieved an optical transmission rate of 107 Gbps over a single fiber channel using purely electric processing in both the transmitter and receiver.



• In November 2006, an experiment conducted by Finisar, Infinera, Internet2, Level 3 Communications, and University of California at Santa Cruz successfully transmitted a 100GbE signal from Tampa, Florida to Houston, Texas, and back again, over ten 10 Gbps channels through the Level 3 network. The transmission used an Infinera-proposed specification for 100GbE across multiple links. A single Xilinx FPGA implemented this packet numbering scheme and electrically transmitted all ten signals to ten of Finisar's 10 Gbps XFP optical transceivers, which in turn converted the signals to optics. These signals were then transmitted to an Infinera DTN DWDM system and handed off to Infinera systems within the Level 3 network where it was transmitted across the Level 3 network to Houston and back.



• In September 2006, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) set an optical transmission record of 14 terabits per second (Tbps) over a single 160 km long optical fiber. Significantly, the demonstration ran optical signals at 111 Gbps over a DWDM system supporting 140 channels.

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Samsung Offers 8MB MicroSD Card for Mobiles

Samsung Electronics has developed an 8 GB microSD (Secure Digital) memory card designed for multimedia mobile phones. The new fingernail-sized card is capable of storing 2,000 MP3 music files, 4,000 digital photos, or approximately five DVD-quality movies.



Samsung said its new 8GB microSD card has a read speed of 16 Megabytes (MBs) per second and a write speed of 6 MB/s, well exceeding the Speed Class 4 SDHC (Secure Digital High Capacity) standard which requires a data write speed of 4MB/s. This is also much faster than the SD Speed Class 2 designation carried by most competing microSD cards currently on the market.
http://www.samsung.com

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Wi-Fi Certified 802.11n Gear Coming Soon

Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 802.11n draft 2.0 products are expected to reach store shelves soon, as the Wi-Fi Alliance certification program nears its late June launch. These products will bear a new logo to show that they have been tested for industry-wide interoperability, the very latest security protection, and backward compatibility with previous generations of Wi-Fi gear.



The Wi-Fi Alliance also announced the products and reference designs that will comprise its test bed for interoperability certification.



The following companies supply the products used in the interoperability test bed, and have the first devices to become Wi-Fi CERTIFIED:

• Atheros XSPAN with SST Draft 2.0 802.11n Dual-Concurrent 2.4/5GHz Router with Atheros AR7100 Series Wireless Network Processor



• Atheros XSPAN with SST Draft 2.0 802.11n Dual-Band 2.4/5GHz Card Bus



• Broadcom Intensi-Fi 802.11n Router: BCM94705GMP



• Broadcom Intensi-Fi 802.11n Card: BCM94321MC123



• Cisco Access Point



• Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN



• Marvell TopDog WLAN solutions (Station Card)



• Marvell TopDog WLAN solutions (Access Point)



• Ralink MIMObility RT2800PD Chipset featuring the RT2860 802.11n 2T3R MAC/BBP and the RT2850 802.11n Dual Band RFIC



• Ralink MIMObility RT2800PD Access Point

In addition, WildPackets OmniPeek Workgroup Pro is included as a test bed software tool.

http://www.wi-fi.org

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Telefónica Reaches 149 Million Mobile, 8.5 Million Broadband Customers

Telefónica reported Q1 revenues of EUR 13.747 billion, a 15% rise in revenue year-over-year, attributed to strong growth in Spain and Latin American operations. Net profit for Q1 was EUR 1.257 billion, up 7%.



The company's total access count rose 11.4% to 206 million, including 148.9 mobile customers and 8.5 million broadband customers. Telefónica España contributed 44.8 million lines to the total access count, while Telefónica contributed 117 million and Telefónica O2 Europe counted for 39.2 million.



The number of retail Internet broadband customers in Spain rose to 4 million (compared to 3 million a year ago), 4 million in Latin America (2.9 million a year ago), and 0.5 million in Europe (0.3 million a year ago).



The number of Pay TV customer exceeded 1.1 million, up by 54% compared to a year earlier, and the company now provides the service in Spain, Czech Republic, Peru, Chile and Colombia. In Spain, the Imagenio service had 418,618 pay TV customers as of March 31.



Telefónica España now accounts for 37% of the Group's revenue.



Telefónica España holds an estimated 56% of the Broadband Internet Access market in Spain, which reached 7.1 million connections at the end of March, up by 400,000 adds in the quarter. Telefónica's retail adds were 250,094 in the quarter.



Telefónica España added 132,211 unbundled loops during the quarter, of which 66% correspond to the migration from Telefónica España's wholesale ADSL service. The total number of unbundled loops now served by company stands at 1,071,217.



Telefónica de Argentina was serving 588,000 broadband lines at the end of the quarter.

http://www.telefonica.es

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Deutsche Telekom Readies "Grenzenlos Zuhause" Campaign

Deutsche Telekom will launch a marketing campaign on May 19 with the aim of simplifying its brand identity. The aim is to be the leading provider in Germany with the new "one company" identity.



In Germany, Deutsche Telekom offers its customers in the consumer market services predominantly under the two brands T-Home and T-Mobile. T-Home will offer services for the home and T-Mobile for on the move. T-Systems is the brand for business customers. Deutsche Telekom will remain the corporate brand in terms of corporate identity and corporate design.



The T-Home teaser campaign will start on May 19, 2007; the campaign will be continued with a range of product offers under the motto "Grenzenlos Zuhause" (limitless home) from June. The existing T-Com brand will be absorbed into the T-Home brand.



Tribal DDB as well as Saatchi + Saatchi, both of which have worked with Deutsche Telekom for many years, will exclusively support the company nationally and internationally in its advertising and communication for the T Deutsche Telekom, T-Home and T-Mobile brands.

http://www.telekom.de

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MTC Namibia Powers Cell Site with Wind/Solar Power

MTC Namibia has built a GSM cell site powered by wind and solar energy generation. The project was conducted by Motorola and the GSM Association. Once installed, the cost of power is almost zero, and wind and solar powered cell sites require minimal maintenance unlike a diesel driven generator which generally requires, at a minimum, a monthly visit for refueling.

http://www.motorola.com/reach/windandsolartrial

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RealNetworks Acquires Sony NetServices for Mobile Music Service

RealNetworks has acquired Sony NetServices, which provides mobile operators with an end-to-end white label digital music service available today in eight European countries.



RealNetworks said this acquisition is part of its strategy to extend its presence in digital entertainment delivery on the mobile platform. The deal follows RealNetworks' recent acquisition of mobile entertainment leader WiderThan. With the acquisition of Sony NetServices, RealNetworks now has 12 music on demand customers with over 196 million mobile subscribers in 11 countries.

http://www.realnetworks.com

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XO Surpasses 10,000 Business VoIP Customers

XO Communications announced that its XOptions Flex VoIP service now supports more than 10,000 business customers in more than fifty-five major metropolitan markets across the United States. The service was launched two years ago.



"Nearly seven years ago XO launched the industry's first flat-rate and integrated communications packages combining voice, data and web hosting services on a single bill," said Tom Cady, president of XO Business Services. "Today, XO continues its long record of service innovation and industry leadership with XOptions Flex. In just two years XOptions Flex has become XO's fastest growing service and one of the industry's most widely deployed business VoIP solutions."http://www.xo.com

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Motorola Introduces MOTOwi4 Indoor Solution

Motorola is expanding its MOTOwi4 portfolio with a new wi4 Indoor solution that allows for the delivery and management of wireless broadband connectivity across all of the necessary IP access technologies. Products in the Enterprise WLAN portfolio include thin, full-function and mesh access points, wireless switches and radio frequency (RF) switches that can manage up to 3,000 access points. In addition to Wi-Fi hardware, Enterprise WLAN offers mobility, network management, and wireless network security, including wireless intrusion protection.



Motorola said its new wi4 Indoor portfolio, including Enterprise WLAN and Broadband over Powerline (BPL) solutions, complement the existing MOTOwi4 portfolio - comprised of wi4 WiMAX, wi4 Fixed and wi4 Mesh. Wi4 BPL uses the widespread access of the power grid to deliver IP connectivity through electrical lines, transforming a building's internal electrical system into a communications network. http://www.motorola.com

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Stockholm's Globe Arena Installs Wireless Mesh from Firetide

Stockholm's Globe Arena, which seats 16,000 spectators and is known as the world's largest spherical building, has installed a multi-service, wireless mesh network from Firetide to relay lighting control data instantly to 670 DMX-controlled multi-color-capable lighting assemblies. Fifteen Firetide nodes were used to provide a wireless network infrastructure for the entire facility.


Firetide's HotView Pro software provides management and diagnostics for the network. NoWire, Firetide's distributor in the Nordic region, system integrators Stockholm Lighting Company AB and Ready AB implemented the network in order to provide illumination to the building's facade at night.

http://www.firetide.com

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TI Offers "Telinnovation" Echo Canceller Software Across DSPs

Texas Instruments (TI) has deployed its "Telinnovation" echo canceller software across several digital signal processor (DSP) platforms including the carrier infrastructure optimized TNETV3020, as well as TMS320C64x- and TMS320C64x+-based devices.



TI said its Telinnovation echo canceller, which has grown to become the most widely-deployed echo canceller solution since its introduction over 20 years ago, is currently delivering over 1 billion calls per day.



The echo canceller is G.168-2004 compliant and has been certified for use across carrier, enterprise and wireless networks. It is available as either a callable function which is integrated into an OEM's framework, or as a standalone DSP image of executable code. The echo canceller is available as a function for the TMS320C64x- and TMS320C64x+- based devices and will also be available as an image for the TNETV3020 processor.



The TNETV3020 image version of the echo canceller supports 672 channels of line echo cancellation including Voice Quality Enhancements (VQE) and Tandem Free Operation (TFO). Even higher echo cancellation channel densities can be supported for specific customer applications. This configuration also includes the TI Echo Quality Index (EQI), which provides a measure of the propensity for echo on any given channel and is derived from TI's PIQUA software. In addition, TI also plans to support 192ms echo tails and operation in an all-Internet Protocol (IP) environment. Configurations supporting Internal Time Division Multiplexing (iTDM) and Circuit Emulation Service over Internet Protocol (CESoIP) are also envisioned. These interfaces allow traditional Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) traffic to flow in an IP environment.

http://www.ti.com/cis

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